A Top Vein Doctor in Bergen County Explains What Image-Guided Vein Surgery Is

Dr. John Chuback, Medical Director of Chuback Medical Group, is a respected specialist in General Surgery and Cardiovascular Surgery and a top vein doctor in Bergen County. He was also one of the first formally trained surgeons in New Jersey to pioneer the use of minimally-invasive, image-guided, laser-based surgery to treat varicose veins and other vein diseases. But what exactly IS this type of surgery, and how does it differ from traditional surgery? In this article, we’ll examine the history of what many have called “the most significant advance in medical technology in recent decades.”

What is “image-guided surgery?”

X-rays were invented in 1901, and quickly became one of the most important innovations in medicine, leading to the creation of Radiology as a medical specialty. Doctors no longer had to perform invasive surgery just to diagnose disorders hidden from view inside the body. Unfortunately, X-rays have a drawback, because radiation from them can be harmful if it is overused, which limited the wide-scale use of Radiology. With the invention of newer types of medical visualization such as ultrasound, however, Radiology could safely be used for longer periods and for more purposes, and led to the creation of a new medical specialty, Interventional Radiology, or IR.

What are the advantages of image-guided surgery?

IR allows doctors to perform minimally-invasive surgeries, without the need for large incisions that greatly increase the patient’s risk of negative complications. As an example that is relevant to the treatment of vein disease, the procedure that was used in the “bad old days” to remove varicose veins required the surgeon to make an incision along the entire length of the diseased vein and then literally strip it out with a scalpel. This procedure – called “vein stripping” for obvious reasons – had to be performed in a hospital, under general anesthesia. The procedure also required long recovery periods, and often caused scarring that was as unattractive as the varicose veins it was supposed to remove.

Thanks to IR, modern vein disease treatment in New Jersey is minimally invasive and so safe that it can be performed in the comfort of your vein doctor’s offices, with no need to either go to a hospital or submit to general anesthesia. Under a local anesthetic, modern varicose vein removal experts in NJ introduce tiny needles into the veins and use ultrasound to guide them precisely into place. Then they close the diseased veins by either injecting a sealing compound, or applying heat using a tiny laser. The veins then collapse and are absorbed into surrounding tissue, ridding the patient of the swollen, discolored veins without any scarring or long recovery times.

Find out what image-based surgery can do for you

If you have varicose veins, you owe it to yourself to pick up your telephone and call the New Jersey vein experts at 201-693-4847 to schedule a consultation in which Dr. Chuback can explain the latest image-guided treatment options to you. Call today to get the process started.